R62A (New York City Subway car) - RollOverTheFloor
The R62A is a New York City Subway car built between 1984 and 1987 by Bombardier in La Pocatiere, Quebec, with final assembly done in Barre, Vermont under a license from Kawasaki. The R62As replaced the R17s, R21s, and 22s (built from 1954–1958), which were all retired by early 1988. Description The R62As are numbered 1651-2475 and linked as 5-car sets, with a full-width cab at each end. The cars currently operate on the 1 (based at the 240th Street shop facility in the Bronx), 7, (based at the Corona shop facility in Queens), and 42nd Street Shuttle (based at the Livonia Avenue shop facility in Brooklyn). The cars on the 7''' feature LED lights on the sides of the cars around the rollsign where the service logo is indicated to help riders distinguish between an express train (red diamond) and a local train (green circle), clearly displaying whether a train is local or express. By contrast, the cars on the '''1 and the 42nd Street Shuttle have never been equipped with local/express indicators. These indicators were first introduced to the IRT Flushing Line when passengers claimed they couldn't clearly hear the announcements regarding whether the 7''' was express or local, even though the '''<7> Express sign was used on the front and sides prior to its implementation in 2008. The MTA has been maintaining the R62As through the Scheduled Maintenance System (SMS) program, which consists of repainting bulkheads, rebuilding trucks, repainting damaged seats, and other minor interior work on a set schedule in order to extend useful service life. History Following the successful delivery of the 325-car R62 order from Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) put out a bid for an additional 825 cars. Kawasaki did not want to build the additional cars under a separate contract, so the R62A contract was awarded to Bombardier Transportation of Quebec, who won the bid over Budd Company of Pennsylvania. While Bombardier offered a higher price per car than Budd had, the NYCTA awarded the contract to Bombardier because of the Canadian government's financial plan for the cars. In addition, Budd proposed using unapproved and untested motors, and similarly untested technology frequently broke down in the R44 and R46 contracts. The 825 cars were built between 1984 and 1987 and entered service between 1985 and 1988, though in August 1985, several cars were frequently taken out of service due to coupler and electrical problems, which almost forced the cancellation of the entire order itself. The first ten R62As, numbered 1651-1660, had their body shells built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and were shipped to Bombardier for their use as samples during their production. They were placed in service on the 1''' on May 29, 1985, after arrangements were made to expand the Car Appearance Program to the route (following successful implementation of the same on the '''4 with the R62s). See also *R62 (New York City Subway car) - a similar model built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Corp.